A Sealed Fate
by ZELDA616
Summary: Belle find herself in an awkward position having feelings for a certain Mr. Gold while she is engaged to Gaston. Will each of them have their own version of happily ever after, or is their fate sealed? Mostly Rumbelle, but I will add other couplings soon! I DO NOT OWN ONCE UPON A TIME
1. Preperations

"Gaston, are we really making the right decision? I mean, I realize your family is in Storybrooke, but do we have to move there as well?" Belle said to her fiancée who was sitting at his office desk in their small apartment. He was making sure preparations for everything for the move was in order. "We've already been over this. It's for our best interest and your father approves with me as well. Storybrooke is the ideal place to set up shop," he said without even looking up at her. Belle let out a small sigh. She didn't want to leave whatever small life she had here in New Hampshire. True, she didn't have many friends (no one but family basically), but her family lived in the area and the library was two blocks from their current apartment. The wedding was five months away and she was counting down the days. She crossed her arms and leaned on the doorframe to the office, "will we have the wedding in Storybrooke then?" Gaston looked up at her and sighed. "Belle, I told you. I will pay for your entire family's trip to the venue and their hotel stays. Everything will be fine," and then continued on with his work.

Belle sighed and walked out of the office. He didn't understand where she was coming from, and he never would. They would leave tomorrow morning to Storybrooke by train and get there in the afternoon. Everything was packed and the truck that was taking all their boxes to their new apartment was coming at six in the morning, and the train would leave at nine sharp. It gave them plenty of time to get to the train station and make themselves comfortable. She had a large purse for their trip tomorrow, containing a book, some flyers about the town itself and other some things. Belle was physically prepared for their move, but not emotionally. She would just have to take the next few days as they would come.

* * *

><p>So far, the morning was turning into a complete calamity. "My fiancé and I are running late because of you fools! I will be taking this up with your employer and express to him what a shitty job you morons have done," Gaston yelled at the two moving men. The moving van came around seven, and finished packing (terribly if Belle might have added) around eight twenty. The cab was waiting for them to take them to the train station outside the house and Belle was patiently waiting in the cab for Gaston to finish with the moving company. "Geez, your husband sure is a little bit of a perfectionist huh," said the taxi driver. "Fiancé," she corrected, "and I suppose you can say that," she said while sighing. "Good luck with that," the driver mumbled under his breath, but Belle heard him and chose not to respond.<p>

Gaston slammed the door to the apartment and walked away angrily toward the cab. "I'm sorry sir for keeping you. Please take us now to the train station," Gaston said as he was getting in the cab. "Sure thing," the driver replied as he pulled out of the parking lot. "Make it fast to, we have a train to catch that leaves at nine," Gaston said as he handed the driver a fifty dollar bill for tip. The driver accepted the bill, and got to the station at eight-forty-five.

"Belle, please, amuse me and try to walk faster. The train leaves in just five minutes and we'll never get a seat in time at this pace." Gaston was practically dragging Belle by her hand to the train itself. When they finally entered the train, it was bursting with travelers. They went to each cabin and every seat was occupied. Belle slipped out of his grasp and walked a little ahead. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted one cabin that had two chairs open out of three. There was a man sitting inside by himself reading a book in the third. "Here," Belle called out to Gaston. He began to walk toward her with his bag in hand as she opened the door to the cabin. She looked at the man, who didn't' even look up from his book to acknowledge her, "Excuse me sir, do you mind if we sit here next to you?" "Be my guest," the man said with a noticeable Scottish accent, once again, without looking up from his book. She smiled and said her thanks as her and Gaston walked in the small cabin and got comfortable.

She sat down in the chair in front of the man, and noticed her fiancé was looking as if he was about to leave the cabin. "Are you going somewhere," Belle asked. "Yeah, there is a small place on the train that's the business area. It has Wi-Fi and I need to finish up on some work. Will you be fine here," he gave a quick glance at the man who they were sharing the cabin with. She picked up what he meant and nodded. He nodded back, and walked out.

_This isn't awkward at all_, she thought. She looked at the man and took in his features. He was wearing a nice suit that looked tailored to his figure and the slight silver in his hair and wrinkles on his face made him look like he was in his early forties. Belle thought that he was quite handsome for an older gentleman. She noticed a cane with a gold handle leaning on the cabin wall next to him. _He must have had some sort of injury_, she guessed. Her eyes then went to the book he was reading entitled 'Divine Comedy', a personal favorite of hers coincidentally. This was going to be a very long trip, so why not try to make the best of it?

"What level are you on," she asked, and then regretted it. Maybe he wasn't the talking type. "I'm…," he looked up to answer her question and made eye contact. Her blue eyes made direct contact with his, and for a slight moment he was at a loss for words. He barely skipped a beat and composed himself rather quickly if he might add. "I'm rereading just to make sure I didn't miss any vital details." A small smile crept on his lips and he went back to his book.

She nodded to his reply, dying for some sort of conversation instead of just staying on a train for five hours in utter silence. But, giving the way the man answered, he didn't seem to want to make conversation (so she thought). She sighed, and dug through her purse, taking out a few flyers and pamphlets about Storybrooke. "Storybrooke ey," the man said, which caused her to jump. "Umm yes, I'm moving there today." She didn't know why she told him she was moving there, "are you familiar with the area," she asked. He placed the book on his lap and marked the page he was on with his bony finger. He chuckled, "I guess you can say that. Quite a small town though, what brings you there?" She shook her head, thinking about an answer, "Business and such I assume." Belle honestly felt that they were moving there for other reasons than what she was told. "You assume," he questioned as he raised an eyebrow. She chuckled, "it's complicated." He shook his head, "it shouldn't be complicated. You should always know what you're signing up for."

"Well..." a knock interrupted Belle from the cabin window. A woman smiled through the window on the cabin door and opened it up. She smiled at both of them. "Would you and your father like something to drink or eat?" A mix of "she's/he's not my daughter/father" was said between them at the same time. They chuckled at one another, and Belle looked up at the woman, "I'll have a cup of wine please." Belle was about to hand the woman a ten dollar bill. The woman then turned to the man who waved a hand at Belle, indicating to her that he was paying and proceeded to take out his wallet and give her two fifty's, "leave the bottle," he told her. Belle chuckled and put her measly bill back in her purse, "are you trying to impress me?" The woman gave the man the bottle of wine and two cups and walked out of the cabin. He chuckled and handed Belle a glass, "trust me dearie," he said as he was filling her cup, "if I was trying to impress you, you wouldn't be asking that question."


	2. The Train Excursion

Belle looked down at her phone and made sure no one had messaged her, not even Gaston. He was already gone for an hour and not a word from him. "Your husband seems quite the worker," the man said as he took a sip from his cup. She looked up and forced a small smile, "Fiancé, and yes I suppose he is," she chuckled. She put the cup to her lips and took a long sip. "When's the wedding?" "It's roughly five months away, but with the moving and all, it might be pushed back a month or two," which she didn't know how she felt about that.

Belle took one of the pamphlets and opened one up. "Can you tell me anything about the town? My fiancé hasn't really had a chance to sit down with me and talk about it properly. It's my first time going," she took another sip of the wine. "Well…" the man straightened up in his chair and placed his free hand on hers, and gently have her close the pamphlet, "the pamphlets are the worst place to start," he removed his hand and placed it back on his lap and took a sip of wine. Belle was surprised on how comfortable she felt with him touching her hand, but didn't really think too much about it. "I don't understand," she said with a cocked head. "You see, it's more of a place to settle down at," he began. "The pamphlets say the complete opposite, to attract tourists of course. Apparently most residents there usually claim they get their 'happily ever after's' after living there if you believe in such things." He refilled both their empty cups with wine. "Do you believe in such things," Belle questioned as she allowed him to fill her cup. He sighed, "I believe it happens to people who are destined to have it or take it by force."

Belle let out a small sigh, hoping her happily ever after would come true there. "I apologize for my manners, my name is Mr. Gold," he said as he extended his free arm for a hand shake. She cocked her head and a small smile grew on her lips, "it's a pleasure Mr. Gold, my name Belle." And she accepted the hand shake. The shake was firm, yet his hands soft to the touch. "Belle, what a beautiful name," he said while still shaking her hand and making eye contact with her. She could've sworn that she felt his thumb gently rub the back of her hand as they shook. She blushed, "not as formal as Mr. Gold though." Mr. Gold chuckled and pulled his hand back.

All of a sudden, Mr. Gold's phone was ringing loudly. He removed it from his inner jacket and looked at the number. "Excuse me," he said as he quickly got up, placed his cup of wine on the small cup holder but failed. In the meantime, she began to go over her pamphlet either way. Just to look at some of the pictures of the town, even if Mr. Gold considered the pamphlet a lie.

Within less than minute in, the cabin door once again opened, and she was surprised to see Gaston come in, but smiled at him none of the less. "Hey, everything alright," she asked as she closed the pamphlet and took a sip of her wine. "Yeah, I was just checking in on you, just to see if you were fine." He sat down next to her, and she offered him her cup to which he accepted and took a long sip. "We should be there in less than three hours. Tomorrow, a lawyer my father recommended will be coming over for dinner to discuss business about the new store we're opening up there." He then realized the chair in front of him was empty and waved a finger at the empty chair, "where'd he head off to?" Belle took back her cup and finished off the remaining wine, "He was taking a phone call." Gaston made a small ah noise and nodded.

He then took Belles hand in his and looked at her seriously. "Darling, I understand that this is all new to you and I should've prepared you more for the move. However, I just feel as though you aren't really happy. Is there anything on your mind that you would like to discuss?" Belle took a moment to honestly think about what she wanted to discuss with him. She felt as if there was something that someone wasn't telling her. She let out a small sigh, "Gaston, don't you feel as this is all so rushed? Something just doesn't seem right I suppose. As if they're not telling us everything. Don't you have that feeling to?" Gaston looked at her and tilted his head, looking completely lost with what she just told him. She shook her and let out a small frustrated sigh, "never mind." He sighed, wanting to attempt to understand where she was coming from, but he knew that he never would.

"Anyways," he began to stand up, "I need to get back to a few other things. This store isn't going to open itself up you know." He made Belle giggle at his small joke. "I'm sorry, Belle. Truly I am," and walked out of the cabin. She was once again by herself. Belle took the bottle of wine that she was sharing with Mr. Gold and filled her cup once again. The bottle was already halfway finished between them both, but mostly her. About thirty minutes passed, and she was still by herself, waiting for either Gaston or Mr. Gold to return and keep her company. She had finished once again her cup, and was finally starting to feel the effects of the wine on her body, mostly her head.

She sighed, and figured none of them would be coming back any time soon. Her head was hurting, and she cursed herself that she forgot her pain killers in one of the boxes that was packed. _I should take a nap; I know I'm going to have to be unpacking start putting the apartment together when I get there. Might as well give myself a nice rest and prepare for it. _Belle put her purse at the end of the other chair and made a makeshift pillow and placed her feet on the adjoining chair and crumbled up into a fetal position. Her head throbbed and she grabbed her skull with her hand roughly, ruining her hair a tad. She fell asleep without even taking her head off from her hand.

Later on during her nap, she felt as though something was placed on her lightly, as though she was covered with some sort of blanket. It didn't stir her enough from her sleep to wake up though, so she didn't bother to wake up or open her eyes.

Belle finally lifted up her body and stretched, feeling a jacket fall off her shoulders. The first thing she noticed was Mr. Gold was sitting in front of her without his jacket reading his book. A blush filled her cheeks as she handed him his jacket and flatted out her dark blue dress with the other hand, "umm, thanks I suppose." She grabbed the jacket and handed it back to him. He looked up from his book and smiled, retrieving his jacket and placing it back on his frame. "I hope I wasn't overstepping my boundaries by covering you. You seemed cold," he said as he noticed how uncomfortable she seemed with the situation. She gave him a small look of warning, "just a bit."

"You've been out for a few hours," he said and her eyes widened. There was no way possible she was asleep for such a long time, she felt that it was roughly a thirty minute nap if anything and realized they would be arriving to their destination quiet soon. She confirmed it though by looking at the time on her phone, and he was indeed correct. "I need to make sure Gaston knows," she mumbled to herself out loud (not loud enough for him to hear though). She would've called him, but had no signal on her phone. She sighed, grabbed her purse and began to walk out of the cabin. "Excuse me," she said to Mr. Gold and he grunted in response.

She walked quickly toward the business cart, which was practically on the other side of the long train. When she arrived, she saw Gaston sitting in a corner with him laptop and a glass of soda on the table he was using. He noticed her walk in and smiled at her. Belle came close to him, "we should be arriving any minute now." He nodded and began packing up his stuff in his bag.

As soon as he finished packing his objects, they both heard over the intercom 'Passengers, we have just arrived to Storybrooke, Maine. If this is your stop, kindly exit the train and have a wonderful day. Thank you.' Gaston looked at Belle and smiled, "We're here," he said happily. She smiled, and gave him a quick peck on the lips, now realizing that she didn't even get to say goodbye to her 'neighbor' that accompanied her this entire time on her train ride, but didn't think much about it, "time to start a new adventure."


	3. The Arrival of the Celebrity

As they got off the train, Gaston's phone jingled. "Excellent, the movers should be here around five tonight. Which should give us plenty of time to check out the place and grab some food." he smiled. Belle returned a genuine smile on her face to know that he was happy with the area, and as much as she would miss her old home, she enjoyed the adventure and seeing new places. A young man dressed in a warm jacket and some nice pants approached them, "Mr. Devereaux?" "Yes," Gaston questioned. The young man smiled and reached out his hand for a shake, "Hey, I'm Mr. Cassidy, you can just call me Neal. I'm your personal driver here in Storybrooke. Your father hired me," Gaston gave him a very firm handshake with a smile, "And you must be Miss French," he then extended his hand to Belle and she gladly shook it with a smile on her face. "My car is this way by the way," and both of them followed closely behind Neal to his car. "Thank you again, if you could take us to our new apartment we'd greatly appreciate it," said Gaston. Neal smile, "can do sir."

"Here's my number by the way, please don't hesitate to call at any hour of the day. Cept Sundays, cause that's my day off," Neal said as he handed his business card to Gaston. Gaston nodded and took the card from him. "By the way Neal, do you know of any restaurants nearby," asked Gaston. "Yeah actually, Granny's is walking distance from here. Nothing real fancy, but pretty awesome lasagna if you ask me." Neal then took out a map from his jacket and circled where Granny's was and where they were at now and handed it to Gaston along with a small envelope that had Gaston's name written on it. "The key is in the envelope by the way, along with another map of the town in case you lose this one." Gaston smiled, "your services are no longer required for today Neal. Thank you for everything." Neal nodded his head, bid a farewell to them both and drove off.

Belle was happily waiting to open the door to her new apartment. It looked nice on the outside and the neighborhood seemed rather pleasant. Gaston opened the door and they both smiled at the same time, "I hope you like it darling," he said. Belle looked around the apartment and was surprised on the vintage feel of it, but it was quiet lovely none of the less. It had two bedrooms and two bathrooms, which was perfect for her and Gaston. One thing that she did admire about him was that even though he had plenty of money to buy them a very large and lavished house, he felt as though this apartment was perfectly fine for the both of them. "It's great," Belle said with a smile on his face. Gaston wrapped his arms around her from behind and nuzzled her neck. She felt a smile on his mouth and she chuckled slightly at his touch. "I'm so hungry though. Let's get something to eat before the delivery truck gets here," Belle said.

After almost getting lost trying to follow Gaston's instinct when it came to reading the map to get to Granny's, they finally arrived and sat down at one of the booths. Belle ordered an iced tea along with a burger and Gaston ordered lasagna with beer. "So Mr. Devereaux, what brings you to our little Storybrooke? Rumor has it, you and your dad our opening up a new store here. Is it true," said a man who randomly approached them at the diner as they were waiting for their food with a pen and notepad in hand. Gaston furrowed his eyes, "yes, we are. Now, if you would be so kind as to allow me and my fiancé have a nice meal without being disturbed, I would greatly appreciate it." Gaston then proceeded to take out a business card from his jacket and handed it to the man. "If you would like an interview with me, contact this number. I am in no mood to be answering questions as of this moment, however, I would love for my name and our new store to be featured in front page headlines soon. I'm sure we can work something out," Gaston said without even looking up at the man. The man happily took the business card out of his hand and then turned to Belle, "how about you? Do you plan on having the wedding here, or back home?"

"That's quite enough Mr. Glass." An older woman with short black hair and high heels came up to their booth. While all of this was happening, Belle was listening to the whispers coming from surrounding booths and tables. "Why don't you leave Mr. Deveraux and his fiancé alone? I'm sure they're tired from such a long train ride from Massachusetts," she said in almost a commanding tone to the man now known as Mr. Glass. He gave her a dirty look and huffed out some air from his nostrils and walked out of the diner. "I apologize for that. Storybrooke doesn't usually get any celebrities, so you can imagine as a reporter that he'd want to be all over you," she said mostly toward Gaston. Belle chuckled ever so lightly for no one to hear. _Celebrities? Hardly, _she thought to herself. Gaston gave her a questionable look. "My name is Regina Mills, I'm the mayor of Storybrooke. I spoke to your father a week ago concerning your move and your opening of the store here," she said to Gaston while placing a hand on her hip.

"Oh, I didn't know my father spoke to you. It's nice to meet you though. I'm sure we will be discussing business in the future, just not today if you don't mind. We are very tired from out trip and we still having unpacking to do," Gaston said sincerely. Belle was basically sitting there unnoticed by anyone, which she honestly didn't mind. _The less attention, the better_, she thought. As if on cue, the waitress came by with their meals and placed a plate in front of each of them. "Well, I'll let you two finish your meal. It was nice finally meeting the both of you," Regina said and began to walk out of the diner. "Oh, and welcome to Storybrooke," she beamingly said through, what Belle thought, was a very fake smile and left.

It was already eleven o'clock by the time they had managed to empty out all the boxes (for the most part) and moved into the apartment. Gaston was lying in bed, reading a few documents about the store they were going to open up and its location. "So far so good, don't you think," said Gaston through the bathroom wall. The door to the bathroom was open, so she was able to hear him. She shook her head, even though Gaston obviously couldn't see the shaking. "I just feel like something is up is all. I mean… why here, why Storybrooke," Belle said as she was completing, as Gaston called it, her 'bed time ritual'. She turned the lights off in the bathroom and began to walk back in the bedroom. "With my father you never know. Maybe there's some sort of hidden jewel in this town that he knows of or something," he said unsurely.

Belle began to crawl into bed alongside him and got herself in a comfortable position to sleep in. Even though she slept in the same bed with him about every day (due to the fact he would work late), she always felt this was a little awkward for them. Gaston continued to go over his work, "don't worry though. Everything will be fine. You'll see," he gave her a quick glance from his papers when he said it, but immediately went back to it. Belle sighed and nodded. Storybrooke would be quite the adventure.


	4. Dinner is Served

**THANK YOU FOR THE VIEWS! I HOPE YOUR'E ENJOYING THE STORY SO FAR. THERE IS SO MUCH MORE TO BE TOLD! FEEL FREE TO LEAVE REVIEWS (DON'T BE SHY) AND I WILL TRY TO RESPOND TO THEM AS MUCH AS I CAN! ENJOY CHAPTER 4!**

Belle was already preparing for the lawyers arrival, who said he would be there around five thirty. She was all day slaving away and making sure the house was clean and was putting away more things from the move while Gaston was out and checking on the property that they were going to open the store in. It was already five, and Gaston was still not home. She already had dinner prepared and it was waiting to be eaten, but covered it up so it would remain hot. There were also three plates already set at the small dinner table, along with a bottle of wine and three empty glasses.

Her phone began to ring in her back pocket in her jeans and saw that it was Gaston calling her. "Hello?" "Hello darling. Listen Belle, I'm going to be home around six tonight and I don't want to cancel dinner with the lawyer. Can you stall him for a bit until I get there with snacks or something? Thanks, bye," and just like that, he hung up without even hearing her answer. "Sure I guess," Belle said to herself, knowing no one would hear her. She sighed, and wished sometimes she would have never given into her mother's dying wish.

It felt just like yesterday, that her mother had passed, but knew it had clearly been over a year. There were some nights where she would cry silently in the shower. She missed her so much and it was just so sudden and strange. Belle let out a long sigh and rubbed the corner of her eyes, fighting back some tears from the memory of her death. Even though she had honored her mother's (very odd if Belle were to think about it) dying wish about getting into a relationship with Gaston, she could have been happier with her life.

A knock on the door interrupted Belle from her thoughts. _Here we go_, she thought and went to open the door. She gasped out loud and was also a bit startled. "I thought your fiancé looked familiar," said Mr. Gold. She chuckled, "so that explains the suit I suppose." He shook his head, "I wear a suit because I make it look good. Not because I'm a lawyer dearie." She giggled and invited him inside. He looked around and noticed his client was nowhere to be found. "I remember Mr. Devereaux inviting me for dinner at five sharp, unless he changed the time and forgot to tell me," Mr. Gold said as he turned to Belle. "Well, he is running a little late. He told me to distract you in the meantime while he gets here." Mr. Gold chuckled, "how do you suppose to do that I wonder," he said sarcastically through a grin. "A little wine I suppose," Belle offered as she began pouring two cups of wine for Mr. Gold and herself.

"Please, sit down if you would like," Belle said now remembering of the man's injured leg. He nodded and sat down in the foyer on the sofa. Belle sat (at a good distance) on the same sofa on the cushion next to him. He took a sip of the wine and then began to speak, "So, Belle, how are you enjoying Storybrooke so far?" She smiled, not thinking that he would've remembered her name, unless she made some sort of impression on him. She sipped her wine as they spoke, "I'm enjoying it allot actually. Even though I've been here for a little over twenty-four hours, I am enjoying the atmosphere of the town. Very homey I suppose." "Have you and Mr. Devereaux explored the town yet," he questioned. Belle shook her head, "no. I don't suppose we will explore the town together with him being busy with the store and all that. Guess I'm going to have to find out this town's secrets all by myself." Mr. Gold played with his glass in a pensive matter, "I'll tell you what… I have tomorrow off. If you would like, I can maybe give you a tour of the town? Show you where everything is and how to get around. Tomorrow, most of the residents begin setting up decorations for the holidays which gives the town a beautiful glow at night. Maybe you'll find a nice venue for your wedding along the way?" Belle looked at Mr. Gold in deep thought and gave him a sincere smile. _There's no way I'm going to allow this man to take me on a tour of the town by ourselves_, "I would love to. Thank you so much!" _I swear, sometimes my brain is not connected to my mouth!_

All of a sudden, there was a jingling of keys and Gaston entered the apartment. "Ah, Mr. Gold I presume," Gaston said as he walked quickly over toward them. Mr. Gold stood up and offered Gaston a firm handshake, which was accepted. Belle realized that Gaston had not noticed it was the same man from the train, not like it really mattered to her. "Come. Let's discuss business over dinner shall we?" Gaston then led the man to the dining table, completely ignoring Belle and not even saying hi to her. She sighed, clearly hurt, but shook it off and got up and served dinner.

Dinner was finished and everything went according to plan for Gaston when it came to the store opening up. Mr. Gold provided him with all the information that he needed in order to get the store started soon. Belle was quiet during most of the dinner due to the fact that she found Gaston's store rather boring, but Mr. Gold attempted to make conversation with her a few times during dinner about other things, which she appreciated. "Thank you for dinner by the way. You have yourself a wonderful cook Mr. Devereaux," Mr. Gold commented. Belle smiled at Mr. Gold and Gaston threw in a remark, "not only is she a great cook, but she's pretty too." Belle blushed at having both men throwing her compliments. Belle sighed sarcastically, "if that's what it takes to get a compliment around here, I should invite you for dinner more often Mr. Gold." Gaston laughed and so did Mr. Gold.

Mr. Gold looked at his watch, "Anyways, it is getting late. I should head home, I have a big day ahead of me tomorrow and I need to get some rest," he winked at Belle (which Gaston didn't see) and her face turned even redder. He then reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a business card with an address on it and gave it to Belle, "try to be there around eleven if you can." Gaston turned his head in a quizzical fashion, "what's happening tomorrow?" Belle looked at Gaston, "Oh, Mr. Gold is going to give me a tour of the town tomorrow, since you're busy with the store. I thought it would be nice so I won't get lost on my way back from the grocery store again." Mr. Gold turned to Gaston, "I promise she'll be home before curfew." Gaston chuckled, "as long as she's back to make her fiancé some delicious dinner, she's all yours." "Excellent. I'll let myself out. Thank you once again for dinner," Mr. Gold extended his hand to Belle and he shook it, gently caressing the back of her hand with his thumb, which she once again noticed. He turned to Gaston, and gave him a firm manly handshake, and let himself out.

"Mr. Gold sure knows his stuff. He will make an excellent lawyer for the store and the company in this town," Gaston said matter-of-factly as he took a seat at the breakfast bar they had while he watched Belle clean the dishes. "I forgot to tell you, my father is having a New Year's party at a hotel outside of town in honor of us opening up the new store here. Maybe we should invite Mr. Gold and the mayor of Storybrooke. We need all the friends in high places in this town we can get to make sure this store is a success," he said to mostly himself. "I'm sure Mr. Gold would enjoy coming to a party full of random strangers," Belle said sarcastically. Gaston shrugged his shoulders, "just tell him about it tomorrow when you see him. Just so that he knows he has an invite to the party." "Sure," Belle said as a small smile crept on her face from the shocking feel of excitement she was experiencing on remembering that she was going to have a small adventure on the town with Mr. Gold. She just didn't know if she was excited from the fact it was an adventure, or the man accompanying her tomorrow.


	5. A Tiny Lie

**HELLO EVERYONE! THANK YOU AGAIN FOR READING YET ANOTHER CHAPTER OF MY STORY. PLEASE REVIEW AND TELL ME WHAT YOUR'E EXPECTING IN FUTURE CHAPTERS! I'M GOING AS FAST AS I CAN WHEN IT COMES TO UPDATING THE STORY. I HAVE A GUT FEELING THAT THE RATING MIGHT BE GOING UP VERY SOON, BUT NOT IN THIS CHAPTER. ENJOY!**

**MELTSTRIFE: HERES YOUR GOLD AND BELLE TIME! THEY ARE JUST GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER HERE THOUGH, NOTHING CRAZY (SADLY).**

Belle grabbed her coat and headed out the door to Neal who was waiting for her to take her to the address on the business card Mr. Gold gave her last night. She entered the car and was greeted right away by Neal. "Good morning Miss French. Where you headed today?" Belle handed him the business card from the backseat and told him to take her to the address on the card. Neal furrowed his eyebrow, "umm not to pry or anything cause I know it's not my business, but why are you going to see Gold? You're in trouble or something?" She turned her head to the side in a curious fashion, "no actually. He's going to give me a tour of the town today. Why you ask?" Neal shook his head, "that's pretty generous of him." "Do you know him," Belle interrupted. Neal sighed, "everyone knows him, and not in a good way. Just watch yourself when you're with him alright?" "Sure… I guess," Belle awkwardly replied. The rest of the drive was in silence between the two.

* * *

><p>They quickly arrived to a store, which had a sign hanging in front it saying 'Mr. Golds Pawn Shop'. Belle thanked Neal and exited the cab, to which he said if she needed anything from him to call, and he drove off. It was ten-forty by the time she got there, and noticed the 'open' sign on the door. A little bell rang signaling her arrival into the shop when she entered. It was a small and beautiful shop filled with strange and wonderful objects neatly placed in every corner of the shop. "Mr. Gold," she called out loud enough to hear throughout the shop, but soft enough as not to be considered raising her voice. She then spotted Mr. Gold limp from behind a curtain that lead to the back room into the main shop, "ah, Belle. You're right on time, excellent." She chuckled, "so, pawn shop owner by day and lawyer by night? Sounds like you have your hands full most of the time." He smiled at her and walked up to the main counter, placing a box that was opened on it back underneath the counter, "what can I say? I'm full of surprises dearie. Anyways, I thought we would walk instead of take the car if that's alright with you." Belle was surprised by the fact that he would want to walk around Storybrooke instead of taking a car due to his 'condition'. Mr. Gold spotted the surprises look on her face and interrupted her thoughts, "just because I have a bad leg, doesn't mean I can't walk around for long distance of time." Belle blushed from embarrassment, "umm, sorry. I just assumed." He waved his hand dismissively and smiled, "it's fine, don't worry about it. Anyways, I think it's time for your tour don't you think?"<p>

* * *

><p>They'd have been walking around town for roughly two hours showing her all the stores in the area, making sure she knew how to get here from her house by walking, and also enjoying each other's company along the way. Mr. Gold would throw a compliment to Belle, making her blush and giggle, every so often. Belle honestly didn't see him as such a bad guy and practically considered him a friend. Her first real friend in a very long time, she would say. Mr. Gold checked his watch and turned to Belle, "it's almost two. Are you getting hungry? There is a diner here if you would like to get lunch." She smiled at him, "that would be great actually."<p>

They both entered the same diner that Belle and Gaston first went to when they first arrive to Storybrooke the other day. Only this time, it was a different experience. When they entered the diner, they were given strange looks by the local customers in the shop and it also got extremely quieter Belle also noticed. "You're here for the rent early Gold," said a middle aged women from behind the bar. Mr. Gold gave her a look of annoyance, "if you actually read the contract, you would know that I do not collect rent early Madame Lucas." He then raised his hand at her, along with two fingers, "two please." The woman gave Mr. Gold a dirty look then turned to one of the younger waitresses, "you heard him Ruby. He needs a seat for two, and she continued to whatever she was doing before they entered the diner, and the diner also sprung back to the noise it was making earlier. A young girl, now known as Ruby escorted them to a small booth and sat them down.

Ten minutes later, she returned back to the booth awaiting their order. "I'll have an iced tea with a burger please Miss Lucas," said Gold at Ruby. Belle laughed, "I was actually going to order the same thing." Mr. Gold chuckled, "you still can. No crime in ordering the same meal as the person you're eating with." Belle looked up at Ruby, "I'll have the same please." Ruby jotted it all down on her notepad, smiled at Belle sincerely, then at Mr. Gold sarcastically, and went to place the order. Mr. Gold straightened his tie, "I apologize for that Belle. I'm not quite liked in the town." Belle shook her head, "it's fine really. I don't know why though. You're such an amazing person." Mr. Gold sighed and gave Belle a very sincere smile, "if everyone saw what you see in me, I bet they would think so as well."

They were then both interrupted by Belle's phone ringing. She picked it up, seeing as it was Gaston who was calling her, "Hello?" "Hey darling. Listen, my mom invited us for dinner tonight if you would like to go." Belle thought about it for a moment, and honestly, she was having such a great time with Mr. Gold, that she didn't want it to end. "Gaston, I don't think I can make it tonight. Mr. Gold was going to take me to this venue we saw while exploring the town and I was going to try to talk to the people there. I'm sorry." She heard Gaston sigh at the other end and knew he was a little disappointed, "it's fine. I just wanted to let you know. I'll see you later tonight though. Have fun and I'll talk to you later." "You too. Bye," she then hung up the phone.

By looking at Mr. Golds face, Belle could tell that she had accidentally made him uncomfortable by lying to Gaston in front of him. She sighed, "I'm sorry. I was just having a good time exploring the town and all that. I haven't had this much fun in a while and I didn't really wanted to go to his moms house for dinner too." Mr. Gold interrupted, "you don't need to explain yourself to me Belle. I'm glad you're having a good time. I'm having a wonderful time with you, if it means anything." Belle blushed lightly and avoided his gaze, "I'm honestly a boring person. I don't know how on earth you're having such a wonderful time with me." Mr. Gold chuckled, "believe it or not, being with you is extremely exciting." Belle blushed and took a long sip of ice tea, thinking maybe it would cool the blushing on her face (it didn't though). Mr. Gold straightened up in his chair, "Anyways, let's see if we can go to a venue and try to talk to someone. Just so you won't feel like your completely lying to your fiancé." Belle smiled, "I would greatly appreciate it thank you."

* * *

><p>They left the diner shortly after (which Mr. Gold surprisingly paid for Belle's meal) and began to walk to a wedding venue that Mr. Gold knew about. While walking there, Belle stopped to take notice of the forest, "there's a forest here?" Mr. Gold stopped as well, "yes. An extremely large one if I might say." Belle smiled to herself, "you know, I've always wanted to have my wedding in a forest. Something small, intimate and romantic." She then sighed and shook her head, "but, knowing Gaston he would want something large like at a hotel or something with all of our friends and family members." Mr. Gold saw the disappointment on her face, "well, there's no harm in asking him." Belle shrugged, "nah, it's just a fantasy," and continued to walk down the sidewalk with Mr. Gold.<p>

* * *

><p>It was roughly seven when they decided to walk toward her apartment. Most of the stores now had their holiday lights on display and it looked beautiful walking down the sidewalk. They had just returned from the venue that Mr. Gold was telling her about and she was impressed by the location and would tell Gaston more about it. "Please don't tell Gaston that I lied to him. It would hurt his feelings," Belle pleaded to Mr. Gold. He chuckled and waved his hand dismissively, "don't worry. It will be our little secret. I wouldn't dream of getting you in trouble. Also, technically, it wasn't really a lie." Belle chuckled, "Well, when you look at it like that it's not." They finally arrived to her apartment door and Belle was surprised to see it dark when she opened the door. She sighed, knowing Gaston wouldn't be home until much later. She turned to Mr. Gold, "what are you going to do now," she asked innocently. "I was just going to go home and cook myself dinner and turn in. Why?" Belle bit her lip and would probably regret asking this, "umm… would you like to come in and have dinner with me? Gaston won't be back until much later tonight and I'm not a huge fan of eating alone." Mr. Gold smiled at her and nodded, "I would like that very much."<p> 


	6. The Truth

**MORE RUMBELLE! YAY! AND WE FINALLY HEAR A MORE DETAILED BACK STORY FROM BELLE! DOUBLE YAY!**

**C. R. CARLYLE: REALLY? ALL I SMELL IS THE DINNER THAT THEY'RE MAKING IN THIS CHAPTER ;)**

Belle began preparing the kitchen for a small dinner between the two of them, which didn't feel quiet awkward as she thought it would be. "You could pour some wine for us if you would like," she offered and he did just that. Mr. Gold was hovering around Belle in the kitchen, "if you like I could cook." She gave him a quizzical look and a small chuckle, "on top of being a lawyer and a pawn shop owner, you know how to cook too?" Mr. Gold placed a hand on his heart and acted as he was hurt, "well, I would hope so after living by myself all this time. Here," he took a few ingredients from her hand and began chopping some of the vegetables. "You cooked for me last time, why don't you sit down and let me surprise you," he said. Belle felt a little uncomfortable having someone else cook for her in her own home. Gaston didn't know how to cook, nor did he ever attempt to learn. Always saying it was a women's job to cook and clean for their husband. "I suppose I can set the table while you attempt to cook," she said teasingly. He chuckled, "you could do that."

Belle took out some plates and silverware from the cupboards and placed them accordingly on the small dining table. "You said you've been by yourself for a while now. So I take it you're not married," she asked, curiosity in her voice. "No, I'm not married anymore," he said with a little pain in his voice. She didn't want pry, but curiosity got the best of here. "Divorce?" "No, death actually. It was a long time ago though, and I believe things happen for a reason." Belle wanted to learn more about this man, "do you have any children?" He let out a small chuckle, "not anymore." Belle turned her head, _what did he mean by that,_ she thought. "How about you? Why don't you tell me about yourself," he said while placing a few vegetables in a frying pan. Belle chuckled and sat down at the breakfast bar watching Mr. Gold cook, "no kids and not married. Not yet at least," she said while rolling her eyes. She cocked her head to the side, "what's your first name?" Mr. Gold chuckled, "if I told you, I would have to kill you." She laughed, "seriously though. Why always Mr. Gold? If I'm to be living in this town, can't I at least know you?" He covered up the frying pan to allow the vegetables to cook and turned to Belle. He leaned on the breakfast bar and hanged his cane on a drawer handle, "I'll tell you what Belle, I'll make you a deal. You answer one question in detail from me, any question of my choosing, and I will tell you," he tapped her nose with her finger gently, "my first name." She made eye contact and a small smile crept on her lips, "deal."

"Why don't you want to marry Gaston," he said without skipping a beat. She scoffed angrily at his question, "excuse me?" He shook his head, closed his eyes and spoke gently to her, "Belle, here me out, please. I have much experience on this earth, and I know love when I see it. The way you two look at each other, in my opinion, isn't love. You don't have to be honest with me, but be honest with yourself at least." She took a deep breath and was silent for a few moments. Belle wiped her face with her hands, looked down at the counter, then back up at Mr. Gold. "My mother told me to marry him." He stood up and went back to the cooking vegetables and added some meat and continued cooking, "you always do what your mother tells you to do?" She shook her head, "no. It's not like that. She was on her deathbed and her dying wish to me was to give Gaston a chance and try to be in a relationship with him. Knowing that I didn't like him like that, she still begged me to do. How could I say no?" He grabbed some sauce and poured it into the pan, "I'm sorry. How did she die?" Belles voice began to break a bit, "car accident, oddly enough. She rarely drove, so it was pretty shocking to find out she was in an accident. She was badly injured and there was no hope in recovering according to the doctors. But she did last a few months to see me and Gaston get together." She cleared her voice and continued to speak, "after me and Gaston started dating, she died shortly after. Then after her death, my father decided to get into a business deal with the Devereaux's. A few months later, Gaston proposed."

Her voice drifted off and she was sitting at the bar playing with her fingers. "So, going back to my original question," Mr. Gold said, interrupting her train of thought. She shook her head, "Honestly, I never really cared much for Gaston. To me love is – love is layered. Love is a mystery to be uncovered. I could never truly give my heart to someone as superficial as he. But maybe, if I'm with him a long time, I can slowly start enjoying his company." Soon after, she felt two hands cover hers. She looked up into Mr. Golds eyes with her tear filled ones. He sighed, "you are a very brave person Belle. Never for a moment, give up hope." A single tear escaped her eye and he cupped her cheek with one hand and brushed the tear away with his thumb. Belles' heart caught in her throat, and for what felt like hours between them, she couldn't breathe. With one of the hands he was holding her other with, he brought it up to his lips and gently place a soft kiss on her knuckles, never taking his eyes off hers. She could see his breathing become unsteadily and felt herself become slightly aroused.

And just like that, her phone rang; interrupting whatever moment they were having and causing them both to snap out of their trance. Mr. Golds face flushed and he went back to cooking. Belle answered the phone, seeing that it was Gaston. "Hello?" "Hey darling, I should be there in about two hours. I just got caught up talking to my mother about the store I was opening up here." "That's fine. Have fun with her. I know you haven't seen her in a while, so take your time." Gaston chuckled on the other end, "Thanks babe. I'll see you later tonight. Bye," and he hung up. Belle felt everything becoming more awkward with every silent second passing between them, "so you were going to tell me your first name." Mr. Gold chuckled, "I did, I just never specified when." Belle scoffed, obviously annoyed by this answer, "that's not fair!" "Well, you never specified when you wanted my name. So naturally, I thought you didn't want it to be now," he smiled sarcastically. She groaned in frustration, "fine." Mr. Gold then grabbed a plate and placed the chicken and vegetables he made to be served. Belle grabbed the plates of food and placed them on the dining table nearby.

They sat down across each other at the table slowly sipping their wine and eating for the most part in silence. Belle was the first one to speak, "so, I was hoping since you asked me such a question, you wouldn't tell anyone about what I told you. Ever." Mr. Gold took a sip from his fine and a bit of his food, "obviously dearie. I'll take it to my grave." She nodded and let out a sigh of relief, "good. Thank you. Everything is delicious by the way. Thank you for cooking and having dinner with me." Mr. Gold smiled at her, "thank you for inviting me inside." She returned the smile with a blush rising to her cheeks, and felt happy that she and Mr. Gold were becoming good friends. But something inside of her, wanted more than just a regular friendship between this mysterious man.


	7. Gaston's Present

**RUMBELLELOVEISHOPE: (1) ABOUT NEAL… KINDA SORTA NOT REALLY (IT WILL BE EXPLAINED IN LATER CHAPTERS, I PROMISE). (2) IM PRETTY SURE THERE ISNT ANY LITERAL MAGIC IN THIS AU. DON'T KNOW IF IT WILL BE ADDED LATER YET. (3) GASTON HONESTLY IS REALLY BUSY WITH THE STORE. MORE INFO ON WHAT KIND OF BUSINESS THE DEVEREAUX'S OWN****WILL BE REVEALED SOON. (4) GASTONS INVOVLEMNET… SPOILERS! (5) WHEN IT COMES TO GASTON AND GOLD (MORE INFO TO COME). (4) THANKS FOR THE TIP TO MAKE IT MORE READIBLE. I WILL HONESTLY TRY TO WRITE IT LIKE THAT.**

**THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR THE VIEWS! TRUST ME WHEN I SAY THIS STORY WILL HAVE SO MANY TWIST AND TURNS THAT YOU WON'T SEE COMING (I HOPE SO AT LEAST). ALSO, RATING MIGHT BE GOING UP SOON…**

Belle sat alone in the booth at the diner, which was surprisingly very empty, drinking her ice tea in silence. She had told Gaston last night that she was going Christmas shopping today, which wasn't entirely true or false. She had just wanted to be alone to figure out a few things. Her confession to Mr. Gold last week had made her rethink her relationship with Gaston and even thought about calling everything off. It didn't help either that she had developed strange feelings for Mr. Gold as well, but she promised herself she wouldn't act on it (not as long as she was with Gaston). She was so confused on what to do with her life right now and she needed honest advice, so she decided to give her dad a call.

"Belle my girl! I'm so excited to hear from you! How's Storybrooke and everything? It's so great to hear from you," he all but yelled from excitement on the line.

Belle chuckled, "Storybrooke is fine papa. I've missed you so much though and I hope you come and visit me soon. How's the new job?"

He sighed, "the Devereaux's really know how to work a man. But the pay is good, so I can't really complain. How's Gaston?"

Belle sighed, "I called because I wanted to talk about Gaston. I'm thinking about calling everything off papa…" She said this barely above a whisper, just in case anyone was listening.

There was silence on the other end for a while, "my dear Belle, why? What's wrong? You two were so happy together when you left."

Belle shook her head, even though she knew her father couldn't see, "that's the problem though. I think I'm finally realizing that maybe I've been lying to myself about my feelings for him. Maybe I don't love him… Maybe, the only reason that I've been with him all this time was for mom. But, she's gone now, and I think her seeing me happy would mean more to her than seeing me with Gaston."

Her father's breath shuddered when she brought up his now dead wife. She heard him let out a very sad sigh on the other end, "Belle… listen, I understand that moving to a new town might be stressful for a relationship, I can only imagine."

"But papa, it's not that. I—"

He cut her off, "but Gaston and his family has been nothing but kind to you in the time that we've known him. Don't you remember how happy your mother was seeing you two together?" Belle was very silent and allowed her father to continue. "Why would you assume that her seeing you without Gaston would make her happy? Please Belle, I beg you, stay with the man. If not for me or Gaston, do it for your mother."

Belle sighed and rubbed her face with her free hand that wasn't holding the phone. "Who knows? Maybe you will eventually fall in love with him and truly see the man that he is. Just give it a chance darling. Please… everyone knows he really does love you and would be very hurt if anything were to happen to you."

Belle felt a little heartbroken that her father didn't understand where she was coming from. "Anyways Belle, I must get back to work. They don't pay me for sitting here and looking pretty sadly." Belle nodded. "Alright papa, I'll see you soon, hopefully."

When Belle hung up and let out a loud frustrated groan, which caught the attention of the young waitress Ruby. "Everything okay Miss?" Belle rubbed her head, "it could be better I suppose…." She then looked up at Ruby, "I don't want to be awkward, but do you mind if I ask you something?" Ruby smiled at Belle and sat down across from her and folded her hands on the table. "I'm so bored out of my mind right now that I'm gonna say yes."

Belle giggled, "I hope you don't get in trouble for talking with me." Ruby waved a dismissed hand at Belle, "nah, its fine. You're basically the only one here: not including Leroy at the bar and the chef. Plus, Granny's not here, so I don't have to listen to her bitch. By the way, names Ruby." She then gave Belle a firm handshake, which Belle happily accepted.

"Belle. So, here's my question: Do you always do what you're told?"

"Hell no! If I did, I probably wouldn't be having fun! Which come to think of it, maybe I wouldn't be in so much trouble either… Why what's up?"

Belle sighed and looked down at her ice tea, "matters of the heart I suppose."

Ruby stuck out her tongue, as if grossed out, "men are idiots. Also, love sucks, if I might add. The best advice I can give you, is do what makes you happy! Not what everyone else wants you to do with your life. It's 'your' life for a reason, and don't ever forget that!" Belle sighed and shook her head, clearly confused on what to do.

Ruby sighed and gave her a more serious look, "let me try to give you an example. I love Granny with all my heart, I do. But I don't do everything she tells me to do, however, I do take her advice and I choose not to do it. If for some reason, she gave me real good advice, I might actually do what she tells me to do. It's whatever you think is good advice really." Belle nodded, actually feeling somewhat enlightened as to what Ruby told her. "Now, if Granny was on her death bed and told me, 'Ruby, you must take over the diner after I'm gone', and dies, then obviously I'm taking over the diner!" Belle responded to that by banging her head on the table once and letting out a loud groan.

* * *

><p>The next thing she knew, she was opening the door to Mr. Golds shop. Ruby and her had a delightful conversation and had agreed to maybe meet up over some coffee and get to know one another better. But now, she had to face Mr. Gold and invite him to the New Year's party the Devereaux's were having. Mr. Gold was at the register and appeared to be taking inventory of some of the smaller things. He looked up at Belle and smiled gently, making her heart skip a beat, but she chose not to acknowledge it. "Miss French, I didn't expect seeing you today. What brings you by?"<p>

She felt strange talking to him so casually, knowing her small crush would just grow every time he spoke to her. That sexy Scottish accent just made her melt. She shook her head, regaining composure, "I was in the neighborhood Christmas shopping actually. I also came by to let you know that you're invited to a New Year's party were having at a hotel nearby. "

Mr. Gold looked back down at his notes, "I see." _Oh God, please tell me he's not going to say no_, she thought. _I wouldn't know what else to talk about if he said no._ "What time does it start," he said while not looking up from his papers. "Around nine, but everyone will probably be there at ten. Just show up before midnight and you'll be fine," she beamed.

Mr. Gold nodded, and continued to scribble on his papers, "alright. I will see you there Miss French." Belle let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, "great." _Oh God, now what do I do, _she thought while playing with the belt on her dress_._ He continued to look down at his papers then back up at her with a questioning look in his eyes, "is there something else troubling you dearie?"

_Quick, think of something you idiot._ "Yes actually. I was wondering if you could help me pick out a present for my fiancé. You must have something wonderful around here somewhere," she beamed as she walked up to the counter and leaned on the glass.

Mr. Gold smiled, "I might have a few things that might interest such a burly man as your fiancé." He then picked up his cane and walked around the counter passed Belle and toward another counter near the front of the shop. Belle followed closely behind as he took out a small wooden box and opened it. Inside was an old fashion shaving kit, complete with shaving cream and straight edged razors that appeared to be made from silver.

She smiled, "this is perfect." Gaston was quiet the hairy man and always kept a clean shave. If he missed at least a day, it was quiet noticeable. "I'll take it," she said to Mr. Gold.

He smiled at her, "excellent." He picked up the box with one hand and walked to the cash register, with Belle, once again, following closely. At the register while he was placing Gaston's present in a brown paper bag, Belle noticed a beautiful tea set in the glass counter. She smiled, "this is beautiful. I would be drinking tea out of this every morning."

Mr. Gold looked at her and smiled awkwardly, "Would you like a cup? I have some brewing in the back room," he then let out a shuddered breath that Belle noticed, "and I wanted to talk to you about yesterday if you don't mind." Hearing that made Belles heart stay stuck in her throat. "I suppose…" she said nervously while making eye contact with him.

They walked through the curtain into the back of the shop, which had a small stove and a few chairs. "Please, sit and make yourself comfortable," said Mr. Gold. _Well, that will probably be impossible, _she thought, but sat down on a small settee anyways. He poured them both a cup of tea, placed a slice of lemon in the cups as well, handed one to Belle and sat down next to her.

He looked up at the cup while he spoke, "last week, I was out of line asking you such a rude question. I can't apologize enough for that." Belle nodded, "we did have a good amount of wine, so don't blame yourself so much. If it makes you feel better, I had a great time that night Mr. Gold."

"Rodric, and so did I," he said softly and took a long sip from his tea. She smiled also taking a long sip from her cup. "Take it to your grave and please don't call me that in public," he added.

"That's a very handsome name for a very handsome man if I might add," Belle said while giggling like a school girl. _No way did those words just come out of my mouth. I'm an idiot, _she thought. He let out a small chuckle and looked up at Belle, "you honestly see the man behind the beast don't you?"

She sighed, placed down her cup on the small table in front of them and placed her hands on both of his shoulders, forcing him to look directly in her eyes, "you are far from a beast. Never for a moment think you are, no matter what anyone says."

He smiled, placed his cup next to hers, grabbed her face in his hands and kissed her forehead gently, "thank you," he whispered. Her hands had made her way down his shoulders softly and lightly gripped his forearms. She closed her eyes and sighed lightly, taking in his musky scent and getting lost in the moment. He placed another soft kiss on her forehead, then on her cheek and then on her exposed neck. He then placed another kiss on her cheek and leaned it for her lips. She gasped, and turned her face centimeters to avoid him kissing her lips.

"Oh my God," she gasped and stood up, knocking the tea cups off the table. "This can't be happening," she mumbled to herself. Mr. Gold was finally snapped back to reality and tea spilled on his pant leg. She noticed this, "I am so sorry," she said while walking out to the front of the store. "Belle, wait. Please." Mr. Gold called out while trying to catch up to her before she was able to walk out of the shop. She ignored him, grabbed her package containing Gaston's gift and walked out.


	8. Filling In The Pain

**RUMBELLELOVEISHOPE: YOU ARE SOOOOO ONTO WHATS GOING ON, ITS FRUSTRATING…! JK I REALLY LOVE YOUR REVIEWS! 3 MY MISSION WHEN IT COMES TO THIS STORY IS TO GIVE YOU AN ENDING YOU WON'T SEE COMING!**

**MESTRIFE: AWWW, POOR GASTON! HE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG (OR DID HE?)!**

**THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR THE REVIEWS! REVIEWS MAKE ME SO HAPPY! PLEASE ENJOY THE NEXT CHAPTER! RATING IS OFFICIALLY GOING UP IN THIS CHAPTER FOR SMUT! NOT THE KIND OF SMUT YOU WANT SADLY… BUT BE PATIENT! IM SORRY IF THAT MAKES YOU NOT WANT TO READ IT! **

**Also I write terrible smut because it makes me feel awkward. That will change soon though I hope!**

Belle practically ran out of the store in tears. She was so confused on what was happening right now and she couldn't process everything that was going on. She needed to get away from his shop soon, but she couldn't walk home looking like the mess she did (people would start asking questions). She took out her phone and dialed the number on the business card Neal gave her. It was on the first ring that he answered the phone.

"Hey Miss French, what do you need," he said casually.

She tried to compose herself without sounding like a mess on the line, "Neal. I'm on the same street that Mr. Golds shop is at. Can you pick me up? Like… right now?" Belle started to make her way down the block to the corner, away from the shop.

"I'm ironically around the corner from there. I will be there in literally, less than a minute. Why… is everything ok?" He could clearly tell she was distressed.

She wiped her tears and sniffled, "I just need to get home."

"Hang tight. I'm almost there." She then hung up the phone. He was right though, it had taken him less than a minute to get to her location. He pulled up next to her on the sidewalk and she jumped in very quickly, trying not to break down in total hysterics. She felt like she was losing her mind. Neal stopped and twisted his body around so he could be facing the back seat. She looked down at her hands, gently sobbing. "Miss French… is everything ok," he asked hesitantly. She sighed, "it could be better… just take me home to Gaston please." Neal could easily tell that she was hurt in some way shape or form, he just didn't know how. He sighed, turned back around and began driving to her apartment.

The drive was a measly ten minutes and Neal decided to try to find out what was wrong with her. "Where you coming out of Mr. Gold's shop right now? Was he the one to make you feel this way?" Neal tried to make eye contact with her through the rear view mirror.

She lightly chuckled while wiping her eyes, "you could say that."

Neal shook his head, "Mr. Gold isn't the nicest guy out there Miss French, especially after his wife died. He became a bitter and cruel old man who started to push away the people who loved him the most. That's why he's all alone… because he doesn't want anyone. He doesn't deserve companionship…" Belle was honestly taken aback by Neal's words. How can someone so sweet resent Mr. Gold so much? Belle had finally managed to calm down a little, wiping the remainder of her tears from her cheek. Belle finally spoke, "do you know how his wife died…?"

She heard the large sigh in Neal's voice, "did you know that Mr. Gold owns most of Storybrooke?" Belle shook her head. "Have you ever thought about how a guy like that manages to own a town? What deals he had to make? The people he had to negotiate with?" It was silent in the car for a while until Neal spoke again, but this time, she heard his voice break, "he got into a bad deal and she was accidentally shot."

Belle wondered why he knew so much about such a private matter, and then it sort of clicked in her head. "You're his son?" Neal chuckled a bit, "step-son. He raised me for 18 years. She died a month before my birthday… I left and never went back after I found out how she died. I'll never forgive him either." Belle heard the sadness and pain in his voice and felt so sorry for this man. "We're here by the way," he said as he pulled up in front of Belle's apartment.

She placed a hand on Neal's shoulder, "I'm so sorry Neal." He shook his head, "don't worry about it. Just please don't tell anyone about this conversation alright?" "Only if you don't tell anyone I came out of Mr. Gold's shop crying." He chuckled, "yeah, I promise." With that, Belle opened the door to the car and got out.

She didn't walk into the apartment just yet. Even after Neal's long story, it didn't help her feeling guilty and confused about her feelings for Mr. Gold himself, no matter what past he had. She always believed that the past was in the past and it made them who they were today. For her, she saw Gold as a misunderstood person, who had seen nothing but pain his life and needed companionship. She took out a compact mirror and arranged herself accordingly so it wouldn't have looked like she was crying. Gaston was home today for it was a Sunday, and she didn't want him to see the guilt in her eyes. If she would have let Mr. Gold kiss her, it would've been all over for Belle. She knew she would've returned the kiss and it would've lead into something more that would ruin her relationship with Gaston. Just because she didn't truly love the man, didn't make it right in her book to break his heart, let alone 'cheat' on him. She sighed though, for she still wanted Mr. Gold and if she wasn't with Gaston she would've allowed him to take her right there on the settee. She was turning herself on with the way she was thinking about him taking her, which made her feel even more guilty and felt like she needed to show Gaston that she did 'love' him.

She shook her head. At this point, she wanted, practically needed to get Mr. Gold off her mind and she would've done anything to do so. She had let this crush of hers possess her and she needed it to stop right this moment. If not, it would've driven her mad with lust and… no she couldn't bring herself to even think that she was falling in love with him as well. It had to stop right then and there. She opened the apartment door and was greeted by Gaston with his dopeish smile, sitting on the sofa reading the newspaper, "hey Belle, how was your day?" She didn't even realize it, but she was breathing extremely heavy. She walked fairly quickly to Gaston, straddled him on the sofa and began giving him very passionate and hungry kisses, which he returned. She pulled his head in closer to deepen the kiss and he wrapped his muscular arms around her petite frame. One of his hands lifted up the bottom of her dress, under her underwear and finally landed on her ass which he gripped hard. He then flipped her over on the sofa so she would be underneath him and pulled off her dress above her head, leaving her in nothing but bra and underwear. Gaston kissed her neck and her upper body while taking off her underwear with one hand and the other roughly groping one of her breast. He quickly undid his belt and took out his member, thrusting it inside her with one fell swoop. It released a moan from both of them and he took her quick and hard.

Even though Belle didn't truly love Gaston, the sex was always good with him. He was always quite dominant during sex, however she never felt like they ever made love and somewhere deep inside she never felt her heart into it. They were at this for 5 minutes until he finally came inside her. He pulled out and sat up on the edge of the sofa with the only noise occupying the room was their breathing. "I love you Belle." "I love you too," she lied. She told herself that throughout the sex she wasn't thinking of it being Mr. Gold and that she successfully got him out of her mind, but she knew that that was a lie as well.


	9. Not Obsessed

**FUN FACT: I DO NOT SHIP BELLE AND GASTON AT ALL (its just their relationship is an important part of the story)! ANSWERING ABOUT EVERYONES OTHER QUESTION; (1) ABOUT BELLE BEING PREGNANT: KEEP READING. IF SHE DOESN'T SHOW SYMPTOMS, THEN SHE IS, AND IF SHE DOESN'T SHOW SYMPTOMS, SHE'S NOT. (2) THIS ISN'T BELLE AND GASTON'S FIRST TIME HAVING SEX. GASTON IS SUPRISINGLY GOOD AT SEX, SHE JUST DOESN'T FEEL EMOTIONALLY INTO IT. (3) I'M TRYING HARD WITH THE SMUT **(hehe hard…) **BECAUSE I ALWAYS BLUSH LIKE A HIGH SCHOOLER WHEN THEY EXPERIENCE THEIR FIRST KISS WHEN WRITING IT, SO BE PATIENT.**

**THANK YOU RUMBELLELOVEISHOPE, .KANOBI, APRIL, MELSTRIFE, AND JEWELZY, C.R. CARLYLE FOR THE REVIEWS! I COULD HUG YOU ALL! YOUR REVIEWS MAKE ME SUPER HAPPY! ENJOY!**

It had been two days since Belle's last encounter with Mr. Gold took place and she felt proud of herself for not going back to his shop and bragging about how she forgot all about what happened between them because she was too busy fucking Gaston's brains out. She was thinking about how she would get over him the moment Gaston and her finished having sex the other day. She had not spoken to the man since and she felt even more damn proud of herself that she had convinced herself that her little crush on the Scottish man was obsolete! The fact that Mr. Gold hadn't even bothered contacting her since didn't hurt her either because she told herself that she shouldn't be hurt because she doesn't have feelings for him. She even made sure that she wasn't brought up during conversation between Gaston and him over the phone (when Gaston had called Mr. Gold that one time), and she was rather surprised that Mr. Gold didn't even tell Gaston to say hi to her for him over the phone or something like that!

But Belle simply didn't care! In fact, she didn't care so much about Mr. Gold that she was on her way to his shop to make sure he knew that she wasn't thinking about him sexually every night when she was throwing herself on her fiancé to get over her sexual craving for him! Belle tried to push open the door to his shop, but it didn't nudge. She then took note that the sign on the door was flipped to 'CLOSED' and the note underneath it saying 'CLOSED UNTIL THE NEW YEAR. SORRY FOR THE INCONVEINCE. – MR. GOLD". But, this ruin Belle's plan to tell him that her feelings for him are gone, so she tried the door again, but it didn't budge. She looked through the glass panels on the door and the shop itself was dark, but nothing looked disturbed. Her heart broke a little from her disappointment of not being able to see him until the New Year. She needed to get this off her chest, to lie to him and herself that she was over him. He wasn't even sure if he knew her true feelings for him and if he completely reciprocated them back to her. Now, here she was, broken hearted and waiting for his return. She sighed, and decided she could use some nice hot coffee (or maybe some tea) on this chilly day and maybe a chat with Ruby, like she promised she would the other day, would help her to forget about her small heart ache.

* * *

><p>"Are you even listening?" Belle shook her head, as if coming out of a trance. "I'm sorry Ruby, can you repeat that?"<p>

Ruby gave out a small annoyed sighed, "I said, what do you plan on doing for Christmas Eve?" Ruby then took a sip of her coffee. Belle shrugged her shoulders, "I think Gaston's mother invited us for a Christmas dinner or something of the sort."

Ruby noticed that Belle was out of it most of the time they were getting their coffee (or in Belle's case tea), but chose not to peeve her about it and that Belle would tell her when she was ready. "How about New Years? We're having a small party at the diner! Most of the town will be there so there will be plenty of mingling for you," Ruby said excitedly.

Belle shook her head. "Can't. Gaston and his farther are hosting this huge party at The Ballroom, that huge hotel outside of town? I have to go to that. But if I finish early I'll try to stop by Granny's." This reminded her about a certain someone she invited to the party and wondered if he would even show up.

Ruby once again snapped Belle out of her Mr. Gold obsession with an excited squeak, almost spilling her coffee everywhere. "I'm so excited for the New Year! I know it's going to be great and I want to start it off with a fresh start!" Belle smiled at her, "what do you plan on doing for your New Year's resolution?" Ruby gave her a sarcastic scoff. "Try to get in Dr. Hopper pants of course!" Both women laughed and Ruby cleared her throat. "No, seriously though. I'm honestly thinking about going back to school to study business so I can take Granny's diner and hopefully make it into a small franchise. I think that would make her happy. Also, I want to get to know you better! You should start coming out with me and the girls on Friday nights to The Rabbit Hole. Even if you're not single and not there to get picked up, we would still have a blast!"

Belle chuckled, "that sounds like fun actually. It will give me at least something to do with all this free time I have."

Ruby questioned Belle, "isn't the wedding planning taking up enough time? It must be awesome to have such a big budget to plan a wedding as big as this one right?" Belle shook her head. "On the contrary, I want to have something small, nothing extravagant. I didn't hire a wedding planner or anything. So far, it's been quite simple and nothing out of this world. I wish it did keep me busy enough though. It's so boring doing absolutely nothing around here. Especially since Gaston has been so busy making sure everything is ready to go for the new business here. I just stay home cooking and cleaning all day."

Ruby's face lit up, as if one of those idea lightbulbs flashed above her head. "I know! Why don't you get a job around here! There's gotta be something you can do with your free time that's not that stressful and that you'll fine fun. What do you like to do on your free time?"

Belle looked down at her coffee thinking hard and shook her head in confusion. "Other than read, nothing to be honest." Ruby then knocked once quickly on the small table separating them. "I got it! Why not the library? It hasn't been opened in forever and I'm sure Gaston could pull a few strings to get you working there!" Belle gave Ruby a look, as if extremely impressed with the idea and smiled at her. "That does sound fun. I'll bring it up to him one of these days and see what he says!" She then chuckled. "That could be my New Year's resolution. Getting a job and making moving here a more fun instead of being cooped up home all day."


	10. The Old Year

**I AM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG! THERE HAS BEEN LOTS OF SCHOOL THINGS HAPPENING (ALONG WITH WRITERS BLOCK). I HAVE NOT GIVEN UP ON THIS STORY THOUGH! THANK YOU FOR STILL TUNING IN! THANKS .KANOBI. AND PUMPKINKITTEN FOR THE REVIEWS ON THE LAST CHAPTER!**

Christmas Eve was alright in Belle's opinion. They spent it at Gaston's mother's house who lives in a small house a little outside Storybrooke and is currently divorced to Gaston's father. She and Belle had fun chit chat about a recent book she was reading entitle "Fifty Shades of Gray," which Belle had no interest in reading, but heard enough about it to be able to hold a conversation with his mother about. She is a short plumped woman who always has a cheerful attitude, who would love to gossip with Belle whenever she came over. Christmas was surprisingly a boring holiday for Belle and Gaston. She had given her his present which he loved, and gave her a designer purse in return (which she was grateful for, however would've preferred something else).

It was the thirty-first, and since the 'incident' at Mr. Gold's shop, there had been no word from him. Belle was concerned about him and hoped everything was alright. She had even stopped by his shop multiple times to see if anything had changed, but everything looked just as he left it. She couldn't help think about him every so often, but somewhere she thought maybe this would be for the best. She knew deep inside that in order to fix her 'almost marriage', she needed to forget about Rodric Gold and everything about him.

Belle and Gaston were preparing for their big New Year's Party. Belle was in the bathroom finishing putting on some light make up and fixing her hair. She was wearing a short black cocktail dress with some black heals to match and wore her hair loose.

"Babe, have you seen my cuff links?" Gaston called out from the bedroom. Belle opened her mouth to speak, but was immediately cut off by him. "Never mind! Found them! They were in your drawer." Belle chuckled, and began to put on her jewelry. "We need to leave soon, or else we'll arrive late and that will look bad on the company. The hotel is an hour away, so we need to leave now." Belle looked herself in the mirror one last time before exiting the bathroom and walked into the bedroom and grabbed her purse from the bureau and both of them got into Neal's car and they were escorted to the hotel.

They both exited Neal's car and began to walk up the stairs and into the hotel. The lobby was quiet large and decorated very luxuriously. The party started at nine and they had just gotten there around ten. They walked down a very large hall that lead to two elevators, which only one of them was working and the other had a small 'caution: broken' sign in front. Gaston tapped the up button on the wall quickly and multiple times, muttering 'come on' to himself under his breath. Right before the elevator got to the lobby floor, Gaston gasped. "Shit! Belle, I left the champagne bottle in the car, can you run and get it really quick? I'll meet you up at the top floor, dads already waiting and I need to be there now before he never lets me hear the end of it." Belle practically scoffed at the question, but decided it would just postpone her arrival to the party that she wasn't really keen on going to anyway. "Sure. I'll be right back," and began to walk back towards the front of the hotel.

The moment she opened the door to the front of the hotel, she saw Neal began driving off. "Wait!" She yelled and waved her hand frantically at him! She then saw the car brake immediately. She let out a sigh of relief and did a small jog toward the vehicle and opened the backseat. "Sorry Neal! Forgot this," she then picked up the bottle and waved it so he could see threw the mirror and then closed the door of the car. Walking back up the stairs to the hotel door, she called out to the man opening up the door to the lobby. "Hold it," which caused the man to turn around and quickly catch the door for her.

Her blood boiled with rage, and at the same time her heart broke a little bit when it was none other than Rodric Gold holding the door open for her. How dare he come to _her_ party after not hearing from him for over a week? _What a slap in the face, as if he didn't give one damn about my feelings! _Belle walked inside along him, angrily.

"And where do you think _you're_ going," she all but scoffed. He didn't even turn to look at her when he spoke.

"To the party that you and your fiancée invited me to, or did you forget that you personally gave me the invitation?" The sarcasm dripped from his breath.

"You haven't even called after-"

"After what dearie? Why would I call you? If anything I would've called Mr. Devereaux if I wanted to confirm my attendance to the party. But I already assumed that you confirmed it after I told you I was going."

Belle felt a little ping in her heart as they walked into the elevator together and pressed the button for the 30th floor. She waited for the elevator doors to close so they could be alone for just a few moments. The moment the doors close, Belle turned to him with pure hurt that was completely cloaked by anger. He was just standing close to the elevator opening standing tall, dressed in a dark colored suit with a red tie and a red pocket handkerchief to match, and with his cane in one hand looking at the elevator doors and waiting for them to open.

"You tried to kiss me, and-"

"And what? As I recall, you're the one who ran out of my shop distressed and clearly not in the talking mood. Why would I even attempt to call you?"

Belle scoffed and threw her hands in the air in a frustrated matter. "I don't know? To maybe check up on me? To see how I was? I thought you –"

All of a sudden, the elevator abruptly stopped which caused a small treble in the elevator and caused them both to grab the others arm for balance. They looked around in a small panic. Mr. Gold was the first to speak. "Are you alright?" Belle nodded and they let go of each other's arm. Mr. Gold then proceeded to furiously press the 'open' button on the elevator, which had no effect. He then tried pressing the alarm button, which ironically enough, was missing. "Fuck." He muttered. He placed his cane in the corner of the elevator and attempted to pry open the door with minimum force. "Fuck… seriously?"

He proceeded to take off his jacket and handed it to Belle, which she clumsily grabbed. "Hold this please." He then unbuttoned the top 2 buttons of his shirt, loosened his tie, and rolled up his sleeves. He stood legs spread and attempted once again to pry the elevator doors open with all his might and with a loud grunt. Belle dropped his jacket in the same corner where his cane was, took off her heals, and tried to help him pry open the door. It didn't budge. They dropped their hands to their side and sighed in unison, and Mr. Gold shook his head. Belle then banged on the elevator door. "Help! Open up!" Mr. Gold joined in and screamed "Hey!"

Nothing. They both sighed in frustration. Mr. Gold grabbed his cane once again, leaned in the corner and closed his eyes.

"What are you doing," Belle asked.

"Waiting." He said without opening his eyes. "They will eventually know that one of their elevators isn't working and come get us. I was just trying to speed up the process of getting out a little quicker." His Scottish accent was a lot thicker when he was frustrated. Belle sighed, and leaned in the opposite corner of him and crossed her arms with her shoes in one hand. She checked her phone and noticed there was no signal, so trying to call Gaston would be pointless. There was an awkward silence for a few moments between them.

"I'm sorry." Belle mumbled loud enough to hear him.

Mr. Gold chuckled. "I'm pretty sure you it's not your fault we're stuck here."

She shook her head. "No, I mean… about running out of your shop that day. I didn't mean to, it's just… I didn't know what else to do."

To that he opened his eyes and straightened up a bit and looked at her when he spoke. "You have nothing to apologize for. I overstepped my boundaries."

"No you don't un-" she was then cut off with a man talking from the speaker in the elevator.

"Sorry about all this folks. We thought we fixed the elevators. We can't see you and we don't know who you are, but we will be checking cameras momentarily to find out who you are and alert your loved ones if you have any in the building. It might be an hour or two until we get you out. Sorry for the inconvenience."

"Two hours? Seriously?" Belle scoffed. Mr. Gold sighed, "at least we have the tiny screen to see the ball drop in New York." She chuckled, "if we aren't out of here by midnight, I might just drink this champagne with you just to get over any claustrophobia that might happen." He chuckled at the comment. There was once again an awkward silence between them that lasted about a minute until Mr. Gold broke it.

"You look beautiful by the way," he said while trying to avoid eye contact.

She chuckled at him. "You don't look half bad yourself."

"I never look bad dearie," He smiled. It made her let out a small giggle.

"So, did your fiancée like his Christmas present?" Mr. Gold said, desperate to keep the conversation going between them.

She smiled and nodded. "Yes, he loved it. Thank you for helping me pick it out."

"Of course." He smiled back.

Belle began slowly pacing around the elevator. "We've already been here for 30 minutes and it's already 11'oclock. What's taking them so long?" She sighed.

Mr. Gold shook his head. "I have no idea Miss French. Don't you worry though; they'll have us out of here in time for you to have your midnight kiss with Mr. Devereaux."

Belle chuckled and stopped pacing, standing in front of him with hands on her hips. "How about you Mr. Gold? Who do you plan on sharing your first kiss of the New Year with? Do you have someone waiting for you up there?"

He chuckled. "Oh yes," flourishing his hand pointing up to the roof of the elevator, "I have a line of women waiting for me to ravish them all at the party," he said sarcastically causing Belle to chuckle. He then shook his head and glanced down for a moment, "nah. There's not that many people in this area that like me, let alone want to kiss me passionately at midnight."

Belle felt for him, but tried to lighten the mood. "I don't believe that's true. I like you and I'm glad to call you my friend. Any woman would be lucky to have you to kiss at midnight."

He chuckled and a small honest smile crawled on his face. "You still continue to see the good in people don't you?"

She blushed and shrugged her shoulders. "I guess." Once again, the awkward silence was filling the elevator and Belle had to end it somehow. "So...," she grabbed the bottle of champagne that was in the corner, "I don't think we'll be out of here anytime soon, let alone out of here before midnight. Why don't we share a little bit of this bottle?" She then handed the bottle to him, which he gladly accepted.

It was 11:40 when they heard another announcement from the man in the speaker. "Hi everyone. We should be getting you guys out of their ANY moment now! So hang tight! Sorry for the inconvenience. By this time, Belle and Mr. Gold were laughing and just simply enjoying each other's company. But she let out a huge sigh of relief. "I can't stand being trapped anymore in here!" She looked over and he stood less than a foot away from her and sarcastically placed a hand on his heart as if it were hurt. "No offense to you of course…"

The small television in the elevator was displaying the ball drop in New York. It was roughly 20 minutes till the New Year began and here she was trapped in an elevator with a man she has been attempting to forget about. It's funny how fate has a way of making her life miserable sometimes.

"What's your New Year's resolution?" Mr. Gold interrupted her thoughts. She shrugged, leaned back on the elevator wall and looked down at her shoes.

"I'm not sure to be honest. I was thinking of maybe getting a job and doing something productive with my life instead of waiting all day for Gaston to get home. Maybe even at the library perhaps. What about—"

She looked up to ask him because she heard the cane fall to the ground, but was cut off by his mouth slamming on hers. She inhaled sharply from the shock, but closed her eyes and gave into the kiss. He was leaning against her and had his hands grabbing her waist to pull her closer to him. There kisses became fast and frantic, as if the only way they could breathe was through kissing. He moaned when she allowed his tongue passage in her mouth. Her hands were able to find his hair and she ran her fingers through his thin greying locks. His hands began moving upwards while tracing her body and stopped to cup her face. His long slender fingers felt smooth and warm on her face.

Their kisses started to slow down and all together came to a complete stop. They pulled away, still only inches from each other's faces and their noses still touching. The only thing to be heard in the elevator was their heavy breathing and the cheesy elevator music. Belle finally had a second to think of what just happened, and to her surprise she didn't feel guilty. She felt a little bad for kissing this man in the elevator, but not entirely guilty.

"I'm not sorry for this by the way," he said. "And I would definitely do it again." He began to stroke her hair on top of her head with one hand.

She didn't know how to respond to that, but she kissed him again. They would have deepened the kiss more if the elevator doors didn't start to slowly pry open. They pulled from each other quickly and fixed themselves. Mr. Gold picked up his cane and the bottle of (what was left of) champagne and gave it to Belle. When the doors finally opened all the way, on the other side was a small group of firemen, a man with a walkie-talkie, and Gaston. Belle didn't know how Gaston figured out she was trapped in the elevator, but something told her she wished she didn't. She quickly was greeted when she exited the elevator with a great big hug from Gaston. Mr. Gold walked out behind her and began to speak to the man with the walkie-talkie about something about the safety of the hotel, but she ignored it.

"Are you alright darling?" Gaston said while hugging her. Mr. Gold made eye contact with her over Gaston's shoulder.

"I'm great," she responded and Mr. Gold shot her a sly smile. Gaston pulled away from the hug and shot her a smile. "Come on, it's only 5 minutes till midnight, let's go join everyone else. They were worried about you." He grabbed her hand and led her to the elevator that was working. She didn't even have a chance to see if Mr. Gold was joining them before the elevator doors closed and they ascended to the top floor. When they entered the room, there was a huge party being held with flashing lights, a dance floor, a DJ, and an extremely large screen which had the New York ball drop party being displayed. The countdown started to begin, with only 58 seconds left until the New Year. Belle wasn't even greeted by anyone when she first walked in, but only until Gaston had pulled her to the middle of the crowd of people surrounding the screen on the dance floor. A few people she recognized said hello to her, but she highly doubted that anyone of them really cared about what just happened to her in the elevator.

Belle thought about Rodric again and his lips on hers. It was a desire she was admittedly craving for so long, that it felt insatiable. She needed more of him and she was finally able to admit it to herself. She had felt like something inside of her that was empty finally being filled with his touch and only his touch. She wouldn't admit this out loud to anyone, not even him, but she knew she was able to admit it to herself. She heard the crowd counting down from 15. She scanned the crowd while being held by the waist by Gaston, desperately looking for Mr. Gold, but was unable to find him. She looked at the bar and saw him leaning against it watching her.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!" The crowd shouted out and her thoughts were then cut off, by her New Year's kiss with Gaston.


End file.
